


Laundry Day

by ScreechTheMighty



Category: Pacific Rim (2013)
Genre: Gen, I'd apologize but I'm not sorry, This is ridiculous and self-indulgent
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-23
Updated: 2014-03-23
Packaged: 2018-01-16 17:02:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,561
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1354999
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ScreechTheMighty/pseuds/ScreechTheMighty
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hermann forgets to do the laundry. The consequences are swift.</p><p>(Updated on 4/6/2017 as part of my Great Fic Cleansing of 2017.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Laundry Day

**Author's Note:**

> This is an incredibly self-indulgent fic because my legs hurt and I write stupid things when I'm in pain. Based on [a conversation](http://screechthemighty.tumblr.com/post/80397173614/this-is-it-this-was-the-conversation-ronnie) I had with [a friend](http://ronithebear.tumblr.com/) because these are the things we talk about.
> 
> Edited this fic on 4/6/2017 to fix questionable grammar/sentence structure/writing in general.

It was pushing 8:30 a.m. and Hermann was still in his pajama pants. So was Newt, but that was normal for him. It took him a bit longer to get ready in the morning, and he hadn't quite reached the "putting on clothes" part of his routine. Hermann's lack of socially acceptable for public clothing was just _weird_. "Something up?" Newt asked.

"I..." Hermann's eyes narrowed. "No."

 _My ass._ "You're not dressed."

"Neither are you."

"Yeah, but I'm  _me,_ and you're  _you_ , and  _you_ are usually up and about and proper by now." Newt crossed his arms. "Spill. Did you forget to do laundry or something?"

For roughly half a second, Hermann looked intensely guilty. That caught Newt off-guard.  _Are you freaking kidding me right now?_ "You forgot to do laundry?" said Newt once his brain had caught up to what that look meant.

Hermann pulled himself a bit more upright. "I don't know if you've noticed,  _Newton,_ but I've been  _busy,_ " he said stiffly. "Forgive me if doing the laundry slips my mind this once."

 _Oh my god._ Newt tried really hard not to laugh. Judging by the look on Hermann's face, he wasn't do that great a job. "So, uh, you don't have any pants?" Newt asked. The mental image of Hermann doing math in his plaid flannel PJ bottoms nearly drove him into giggles again. "That's a problem, dude."

"I'm  _aware of that, Newton,"_ Hermann snapped as he turned back to his room.

Newt rolled his eyes as he watched Hermann walk away. He was probably doing that thing where you dig through your drawers in the vain hope that there was a pair of pants or underwear or socks that you'd missed. There never was. Dude was pantless, at least until he could get the laundry done. And in a big place like the Shatterdome, there was never any guarantee you'd be able to get a machine. It was worse than college.

_I wonder if..._

Newt went to his room to check his own clothes. He was a bit low (laundry day was coming for him, too) but he still had a few pair of jeans lying around. Newt picked out the least tight pair and examined them critically, as though trying to work out some measurements. It was a long shot, there was no way in hell Hermann would actually  _agree_ to it, but Newt felt it was his duty was Hermann's colleague/room mate/perpetual annoyance to make the offer. "Hey, Hermann!" he called as he exited his room.

"What?!" replied Hermann, without moving from his room.

Newt held up the jeans. "Do you think these would fit?"

Hermann finally looked out of his room and scowled immediately. Newt wasn't sure why. There wasn't really anything  _wrong_ with the jeans. They were plain dark blue, a bit distressed at the knees from wear, and the sort of thing Newt wore on weekends when he didn't have to impress anyone. Not anything _extravagant._ But Hermann was probably just annoyed with them on principle. Hermann was prejudiced against jeans. And fashion. "You can't be serious," he said, his voice dripping with disdain.

"Hey, it's either this or you do your work in your jammies." Newt tossed the jeans to Hermann, who caught them with surprising ease. "Try them on. Live a little." Newt didn't give Hermann a chance to protest, instead turning around and darting into the bathroom. He expected a barrage of grumbling and complaints from the other side of the door, but things were quiet.  By the time Newt was done getting ready, Hermann was either still in his room, off doing laundry, or in the lab. Newt fought the urge to knock and see if Hermann had put the jeans on.  _He probably didn't,_ he told himself as he went to get breakfast. Oh, well. The mental picture of Hermann running around the Shatterdome in PJs was funnier.

When he reached the cafeteria, Newt found Tendo Choi half-asleep at a corner table. "Rise and shine, Mr. Choi," said Newt as he sat down next to him.

Tendo swatted weakly at Newt's arm in response. "Yeah, look at me, I'm Newt, I got a full night's sleep and I'm a ray of freakin' sunshine." He lifted his head and mock-glared at Newt. "Some of us have important work to do, you know."

"Some of us should start demanding the men in suits let them  _sleep_ ," retorted Newt. "Unless you keep _volunteering_ for these shifts, in which case, you're crazy."

"Look who's talking." Tendo reached for his coffee. "War's going on, brother, no rest for the..."

Tendo was just about to take a sip when he stopped and stared intently across the cafeteria. "Okay," he said, "I'm going to need you to confirm whether I'm hallucinating or not."

"Why, what's..."

Newt didn't have to finish the question. As he followed Tendo's line of sight, he saw immediately what had his friend so confused. It was Hermann. Newt almost didn't recognize him because, in a case of the unlikely scenario rearing its head and going "there was still a 1% chance, asshole", Hermann was  _wearing the jeans._ Hermann of the perpetual slacks was  _actually wearing jeans._

But it wasn't just the jeans. Hermann had also decided against wearing his blazer (it was a bit warm today, Newt couldn't blame him). Instead he was wearing this green cardigan Newt had never actually seen before over the usual button-up. He looked less like a professor in badly-fitting clothing and more like some kind of academic hipster. It was--and Newt genuinely couldn't believe he was thinking this--a really good look for him.

"Did you dare him?" Tendo whispered. "Bribe him? Did he lose a bet?"

"Laundry day. He didn't have any pants. I gave him a pair of mine," Newt whispered back. And they did fit Hermann, though Newt wasn't terribly surprised. Hermann wasn't  _that_ much taller than he was, and Newt had to roll up the legs of his jeans a lot anyway. "Should I take a picture? Because we may never see this again."

"Please do. I want proof of this for prosperity." Tendo glanced around the room and looked for a second like he was going to burst out laughing. "Look."

There was a cluster of people near the drinks who were staring rather openly at Hermann. Two of them were whispering. Newt might have been on the other end of the room, but he knew an "Oh no, he's hot" face when he saw one. He thought he saw that look on a few more faces as Hermann walked by. Hermann, in typical Gottliebian fashion, was too intent on picking what he wanted for breakfast and going over mathematical equations in his head to notice. "I've created a monster," said Newt, horrified but ecstatic all at once.

"Now you just need to get him to smile," said Tendo, his voice shaking with barely-contained laughter. "Then you'll have  _really_ turned him into some kind of heartbreaker."

Newt shook his head. "No. No way. That would be taking science too far. And you _know_ how I feel about science."

Tendo considered this, then nodded. "Yeah, you're right. He looks good, though."

"Yeah." Hermann started walking over; Newt quickly pretended he'd been eating breakfast all along. If Hermann caught him staring, Newt would never hear the end of it. "'Morning, Hermann," said Newt as Hermann sat down across from him and Tendo.

Hermann nodded in greeting and turned his attention to his food. Newt could see his lips moving in between bites.  _Do you ever stop thinking about math, dude?_ "Still working on that predictive model?" Tendo asked.

"Yes, I've been..."

"Hey, Doctor Gottlieb!" called a J-Tech that happened to be walking past. "Looking good."

Tendo sounded like he was choking on air. Hermann immediately went pink and turned to face the instigator. "You..." He seemed to be struggling between the usual social conventions of responding to compliments and the Gottliebian impulse to tell them to mind their own business. In the end, he gave up and turned back to his food. "I am taking these things off the minute my laundry is done," he growled.

"No!" blurted Newt.  _Whoops, that was a bit too fast._ "Come on, dude, they were right. You look  _really_ good."

Tendo nodded in agreement. "Not that you don't always look good," Tendo added, "this look just really works for you. I couldn't pull it off."

For once, Newt kept his potential disagreement to himself. Tendo was better with the whole  _words_ thing, and Hermann was looking less and less frustrated with every word Tendo said. Still flustered, yes, but less frustrated. "I highly doubt that," said Hermann finally. "I don't know how you can stand wearing these things, Newton."

"Dude, come on, those are like the  _least_  skinny pair I own."

"Why does that  _not_ surprise me?"

Bickering, of course, ensued. Hermann hit a new high for the number of times he rolled his eyes at Newt during a conversation. Newt made a very passionate argument in favor of Doc Martens. Tendo watched and laughed at both of them. Hermann never ended up smiling, but he also didn't take the jeans off right away. Newt was even able to sneak a picture. He figured that counted as a win. _  
_


End file.
